By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
A 49-year-old San Jose man is charged with impersonating a DEA agent after he allegedly donned a gold badge and used a Volkswagen Jetta equipped with police lights to stop drivers, including an actual government official, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
Authorities arrested Alex E. Taylor last weekend outside his home.
Taylor first came to the attention of federal authorities on Christmas Eve, when he pulled over a U.S. Department of Transportation official at Chelsea and Stratford drives in San Jose, the FBI alleged in an affidavit by agent Jason Cheng. Taylor was wearing a DEA badge around his neck and identified himself as a DEA agent. He asked the official why she was in such a hurry.
The official said she was heading to church, then reportedly said:
“DEA, huh?” the official reportedly asked Taylor. “Since when does DEA make vehicle stops?”
Taylor insisted he had the authority to issue a ticket. Taylor then told the official to have a nice day and drove off.
The paper reported:
A break in the case came on Feb. 12, when DEA Special Agent Casey Rettig learned that an off-duty Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputy had witnessed a Jetta with red and blue lights stop a tow truck on Highway 17 in November 2018, Cheng wrote. The lights, the deputy noted, did not appear to be of the law enforcement variety.
